Women’s Baseball World Cup 2016

The “LG Presents WBSC Women’s World Baseball Cup 2016” (seriously, that’s its name) begins tonight! Just yesterday, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) announced that it will live stream the event on YouTube. The World Cup begins tonight/tomorrow, at 8 pm (Eastern). (Korea time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.) Unfortunately, not all games in the first round will be available on YouTube.

Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark (photo courtesy of baseballinkorea.com)

The tournament will take place at the Gijang-Hyundai Dream Ballpark in South Korea. The opening round is this weekend. Tuesday (in South Korea) is an off-day before the “Super Round” begins on Wednesday (or late Tuesday night, if you’re in the U.S. and on Eastern Time). (International time zones get confusing!) The Super Round runs through September 10, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, September 11. All games in the Super Round as well as the Championship will be live-streamed globally on YouTube.

The Women’s Baseball World Cup was first held in Canada in 2004, and has been held every two years since then. The teams compete for bronze, silver, and gold medals. Of the six times the championship has been held, Japan has won the gold medal four times (2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014) and the United States has won it twice (2004 and 2006).